Boxing Plato's Shadow: An Introduction to the Study of Human Communication

by Dues, Michael; Brown, Mary

• ISBN13: 9780072483901
• ISBN10: 0072483903
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-09-05
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education

Summary

Designed to introduce students to the academic discipline of Communication, this text describes the scope and methods of communication studies, and sketches its history from the work of the early sophists to contemporary research efforts.Boxing Plato's Shadowhelps explain why, despite its long and venerable history of scholarly endeavor, Communication continues to struggle for recognition of its legitimate place in the academy. Throughout, the authors emphasize the field's durability over more than two millennia and the merits of multiple systematic approaches to the study of communication.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. The Beginning of Communication Study

The Beginning of Communication Study, A Market for Communication Knowledge and Skill, The Sophists, Plato's Shadow, Aristotle's Resolution, Boxing Plato's Shadow, Contributions of Plato and Socrates to the Study of Communication

Chapter 2. Communication Study from Aristotle's Time to the 20th Century

Rhetoric in Egypt and Rome, Rhetoric in Christian Europe, The Contribution of the Moors, Humanism, the Renaissance and the Printing Press, The Enlightenment and the Modern Concept of Communication, New Relevance for Rhetoric in England and the New World, Elocution, A Changing Academic World and the Birth of a New Discipline

Chapter 3. Humanistic Study of Communication in the 20th Century

Rhetorical Scholarship and the Practical Art of Speech, The Neo-Aristotelian Approach, A Broader Scope of Communication Study, The Neo-Aristotelian Legacy, New Foundations for Contemporary Rhetorical Scholarship, Hermeneutics, Dramatism, Critical Theory, Postmodernism, Epistemics, Rhetorical Scholarship Today, Summary

Chapter 4. The Emerging Social Science of Communication

Social Science, Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Social Science, Quantitative Research, Qualitative Research, Summary: The Nature of Social Science, Foundations of Social Science and Communication Study in the 19th Century, Early Scientific Study of Communication: 1920s-1940s, Communication Research and World War II, The Growth of Communication Science after the War, Integrating Speech and Communication Study, Recent Trends in Communication Study, Summary

Chapter 5. Communication Study Today and Tomorrow

Challenges Facing Social Scientists, Challenges Facing Humanist Scholars, The Challenge of Changing Technology, Areas of Specialization in Communication Research, Communication Study as Interdisciplinary Scholarship, Enduring Issues Confronting our Field, Communication Study and You